Health ministry the tenant of an illegal building

The health ministry has been paying rent for 10 years on a building which has no building permit and seems unlikely to receive one anytime soon, it emerged on Monday.

Health ministry spokeswoman Elpida Hadjivasiliou told the Cyprus Mail that the ministry had asked the attorney general for his legal opinion on the best way to move forward but was unwilling to comment on how the irregularities had occurred.

Housed in the Yiorkion building since 2008, the health ministry signed a deal with Belcy Co Ltd which owns the building and has since been paying them rent.

However, the only person who can sign the documents required to submit an application for a building permit, is the architect, who is owed €1.7 million for the construction of what was originally a luxury hotel, restaurant and shop complex, and he is unlikely to sign until he has clear sight of the money he has been waiting for since 1997.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, founder of Fereos and Associates Architects, Harris Ferreos said he was commissioned to be the architect for the Yiorkion building built in the 1980s which comprised of two buildings – one housing the hotel and the other cafes, restaurants and shops.

He has been waiting for his payment since 1997 and has now taken the case to court.

According to daily Politis, Belcy had a building permit to build the original Yiorkion, but after the project failed, it signed a deal with the health ministry to rent out one of the buildings. The company, on December 31, 2007, received planning permission to change all the units from cafes, restaurant and shops into offices where the ministry moved in in 2008.

That planning permission expired by December 30, 2010, but the next step – to submit a full building permit application for its current use – was never taken.

According to Fereos, this is because as the architect of the building, he would need to sign the documents. No one approached him to do so as it would mean they would first need to pay off his outstanding debts.

“No one has asked me to do such a thing. No one has brought me anything to sign,” he said.

In 2014, according to the report, officials from the municipality went to inspect the building housing the health ministry after a request from the land registry, and also found works had been carried out on the building which had not been included in the planning permission.

“They would need to submit new planning permissions to do so,” but again, even though the Fereos had not been in charge of the construction work, they would still need his signature.

“No one has ever asked me to sign anything,” he claims because that would mean approaching him and coming to face with the reality that “they need to pay me.”

Additionally, municipality officials had found issues with the fire safety of the building and emergency exits.

According to Fereos, this concerns the ventilation in one part of the building which the owners had been aware of before the ministry even moved in which would require paying contractors £12,000 (€20,500).

An idea had floated around for the health ministry to terminate the rental agreement, but according to Politis this would not solve the problem that the state had been paying rent for a building which lacked a building permit.

we live next door. This building – the part which is not occupied by the ministery has been under construction, project under study etc for 10yrs. That half of the building is ransacked really bad.
I wonder whom the parking belongs to then …

Barry White

A perfect example from the School of “keep hitting your head against a wall long after you stop feeling the pain.”

“An idea had floated around for the health ministry to terminate the rental agreement, but according to Politis this would not solve the problem that the state had been paying rent for a building which lacked a building permit…..”

Perhaps stop paying the rent until a valid building permit is produced by the owners? Which Family owns this building?

Gui Jun An

Half the buildings of Cyprus are illegal cos planning departments never inspect sites, and most buildings do not even show up on land survey maps. The entire system is chaotic – half of us paid IPT and the other half sat laughing at us.

almostbroke

All that counts were the ‘envelopes ‘ ‘fat ‘ enough ?

Alex

Dear Mr Prez,
Get the architect and owner round a table. Negotiate a deal that gives the architect half his money. Negotiate a deal with the owner that gives the tenants a number of years rent-free equivelant to the costs of settling with the architect and bringing the building up to legal status and safe conditions.

Then get on with something more important ……..

Mike

Now now, that’s far too sensible and by definition a simplistic (albeit effective) comment. You will be doing an army of civil servants not to mention lawyers out of a reason to remain self important with comments like that.

Alex

I think public sector employees need a dose of reality, perhaps as part of their development they could be seconded to the private sector every 5 years for one year. Now where should we send them to develop?

jobanana

Seems to me that the building is illegal and should be demolished. Why complicate things!

Barry White

Your suggestion sounds like a job to bring the Tof out of retirement. He is well versed in demolition.

jobanana

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roger Thecabinboy

I think both AG’s need to have a good look at this one….

Pullaard

What I’d like to know is who comprises Belcy Co. Ltd.

Mist

GIORKIS PAPA, NIKI PAPADOPOYLOY, SAMIYA ENTERPRISES LIMITED (Sorry about the caps was a cut and paste) CM could spend $50 and buy the full report. Links go back to Trident Hotels, One of the names is the same as the Head of EU & International Affairs Office Ministry of Education and Culture, Cyprus. Limassol,
(Niki Papadopoulou-Papa)

Barry White

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………………

SuzieQ

Wow!!

Tony

You couldnt make this up! Cyprus ….. if there is a wrong way to do anything then you will do it everytime. Thats the guarantee that is Cyprus. I came for the sunshine and lovely beaches, stayed for the comedy show and loving it ever since. Please dont stop the hilarity!

Mike

Even those of us who are indigenous and have seen the light find it all very amusing albeit a calamity with an infinite lifespan. It will never change, just tinkered around the edges with rhetoric to make it look like someone is on the case when in reality there is no will or financial incentive to do anything of substance. In fact I suggest to change the status quo will cost too many in power far more than they are prepared to concede so it continues.

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